City`s future growth topic of council workshop

Members of the Basehor City Council got a hint as to how the city may grow and develop in the near future during a work session Monday night.

The meeting primarily focused on plans for a sewer line and road improvements, but the attitude of three developers present indicated that growth could be coming soon.

The first issue involved the running of sewer lines from the city`s main lines to the area of Highway 24/40, particularly to planned development areas near 158th Street.

Code Administrator Mike Hooper walked the council through various financing and routing options for the plan, and while the council could not vote, there seemed to be a consensus that the city would pay for engineering studies on the project and the developers would be responsible for the cost of the line`s construction.

The cost to the city for the study would be around $100,000.

Members also expressed an interest in having 21-inch lines instead of 10-inch lines to help accommodate future needs. It was agreed that the city`s cost for the engineering study would be roughly equivalent to the difference in price for the larger pipes.

Mayor John Pfannenstiel said state funds would likely be available so the work could be financed with low-interest loans.

The developers seemingly were eager to accept the plan, stating that the major need of the area was sewers and roads.

The roads came up next as the council discussed having 158th Street chipped and sealed.

Again it appeared most of the cost for constructing the road would fall on the developers, although Pfannenstiel indicated the city would have to discuss any road improvements with the county to determine who would be liable for mainentance on the road.

Finally, a request came from developers working on a 150-home subdivision about 1 1/4 miles west of the city, for a line to connect with the city`s sewer system.

The council agreed it would not be willing to commit any city funds to the project, but would be willing to allow a hook-in at the developers` expense.

The developers appeared agreeable and future discussion is planned.

Because it was a work session only, no votes could be taken, but Pfannenstiel said he thought the meeting was successful.

"There were a number of issues which needed to be discussed and we just wanted to see if the council was interested in proceeding with any of it. There`s no reason to put a lot of work into any of the projects if the council was not interested.

"I think the council was receptive and the developers are seemingly interested in cooperating on these projects, so I think we can reasonably anticipate seeing some action in the near future," Pfannenstiel said.

Members of the council present for the work session were Chris Garcia, Burl Gratny, Joseph Odle and Victor Ziegler. Councilman Robert Vervaecke was absent.